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Kevin Borg
|birth_place = Floriana, Malta |death_date = |origin = |instrument = |genre = Pop |occupation = Singer |years_active = 2006–present |label = Sony BMG |associated_acts = |website = |current_members = |past_members = }} Kevin James Borg (born 9 June 1986, in Floriana, Malta), is a Maltese pop singer who lives and works in Sweden. Borg rose to fame as the winner of the fifth series of the Swedish television singing competition Idol in 2008. He was the third male winner and the first in the show's history to be born outside of Sweden, having moved there exactly one year before he was declared winner. Biography Early life Borg was born and raised in Floriana, Malta. He was a footballer, playing for Floriana FC. His grandfather, Lolly De Battista, was the first Maltese footballer to win the Footballer of the Year Award. Idol 2008 In December 2007, Borg moved to Arvidsjaur, Sweden, to live with his Swedish girlfriend. In autumn 2008, he auditioned for the fifth season of the Swedish singing contest Idol. Although he made it through to the final 12 live finals, Borg was not originally among the competition's front-runners. However, his strong performances caused a rapid growth in his popularity with viewers week by week. After making it to the final two and performing at Stockholm's Globen Arena before a live audience of 16,000 people, Borg was declared the fifth Swedish Idol on 12 December 2008, defeating Alice Svensson. Throughout the live finals, Borg had never fallen into the bottom three contestants. After Idol 2008: Debut single After having won the Swedish Idol 2008 Borg signed a recording contract with Sony BMG. Borg's coronation song With Every Bit of Me was released one week after he had won the contest. The song was a hit in Sweden, where it debuted at number one and stayed on top of the charts for two consecutive weeks. 2009: First album: The Beginning On 4 March 2009 Borg officially released his album The Beginning in Sweden. The album reached number 3 in the charts in Sweden and was certified gold. Borg also released his second single titled Street Lights. The single reached number 10 in Sweden. The album was originally slated for release in February, but Borg was working on a music video for Street Lights and the album was postponed by a week. Borg made a nationwide tour in early-to-mid-2009 in Sweden. In November 2012 Borg's music single "Christmas Time" was placed at number one on Malta's iTunes chart. He co-wrote with Marcos Ubeda and produced the song "Mental Breaker" for the South Korean K-Pop group, Block B. The song reached number 10 on Billboard and other charts. After 2013: Back in Malta Borg participated again in the Maltese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö with the song "Needing You", which he co-wrote and co-produced with Simon Gribbe, Danne Attlerud, Thomas Thörnholm and Michael Clauss, coming in second place. Borg also co-wrote and co-composed the song "Storyline" with Gribbe, Alin Văduva and Aidan O'Connor as was with in the Romanian Eurovision Song Contest 2013 selection. In 2016 Borg was cast in the role of Danny Zuko in a production of Grease (musical), with Maxine Aquilina playing the part of Sandy Dumbrowski at Teatru Astra in Gozo, Malta, on Saturday 16 April 2016. On 20 April 2016 he released his single Young at Heart, distributed by Spinnup through iTunes. In December 2016 Borg was selected to be part of Malta's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Follow". He placed third in the national final. Discography Studio albums * The Beginning (2009) Singles * "With Every Bit of Me" * "Street Lights" * "The Last Words" (Digital only) * "Unstoppable" * "Young at Heart" Musical participation in Malta Malta International TV Song Festival * 2006: Riflessi - 4th place * 2007: Jasal il-Jum Malta Song for Europe * 2006: You're My Dream - 8th place * 2007: Whenever - 4th place * 2013: Needing You - 2nd place * 2017: Follow - 3rd place Category:Artists Category:NVSC 2 artists